 Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire. For at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table. You just heard remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris in Selma, Alabama. And as you saw, she actually called for a ceasefire for six weeks. Now, if she just stopped after saying ceasefire and didn't say the six week part, I'd actually commend her for saying exactly what the American people want to hear. Having said that, though, even a temporary pause in violence is objectively good. And I would absolutely welcome that. But the ultimate goal is a permanent ceasefire, not a temporary one. So the administration really shouldn't co-op that language if they're not going to implement the policy associated with that call for a permanent ceasefire. But merely using the term ceasefire in and of itself is a pretty significant change in tone from the same administration that called ceasefire calls repugnant at the beginning of all of this. But we don't need a change in tone or a change in rhetoric. We need a change in policy and actions speak louder than words. But let's hear the rest of her speech. This will get the hostages out and get a significant amount of aid in. This would allow us to build something more enduring, to ensure Israel is secure, and to respect the right of the Palestinian people to dignity, freedom, and self-determination. Hamas claims it wants a ceasefire. Well, there is a deal on the table. And as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal. Let's get a ceasefire. Let's reunite the hostages with their families. And let's provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza. So if you agree that six weeks isn't enough, well, rest assured because the administration is going to use that time to work towards something more enduring. Now, the problem is Netanyahu has already made it clear that a ground invasion of Rafa is inevitable at this point, and a ceasefire will merely delay that initiative. So the real question is, what's the Biden administration going to do to reign him in? Because talk is cheap. And as Asal Rod puts it, I'm so tired of Biden officials acting like we're idiots. You can't arm and fund Israel, draw no red lines, veto UN resolutions, reject the ICJ, cut unlaw funding, ignore international law, then say you're helping the dire humanitarian crisis you created. People see through your lies. And that's the thing. Their words have no teeth or meaning until we see an actual change in policy. And at this point, we're just not seeing that. We are, however, seeing an increasingly desperate Biden administration try to placate Democratic Party voters by basically doing the diplomatic equivalent of throwing shade at Netanyahu. As the Hill reports, Harris, along with other Biden administration officials like Jake Sullivan and Anthony Blinken, are going to talk to Benny Gantz, an opponent of Netanyahu without the approval of Netanyahu. And this comes after the Biden administration subverted Israel by air dropping aid to Gazans who are currently starving after Israel has refused to let aid in. But 66 pallets with 38,000 meals isn't going to feed 2 million starving Palestinians. So it almost feels cruel in a way to not even do the bare minimum here and basically force Palestinians to fight over crumbs. I'll accept that 38,000 meals is better than zero. But if we have the capability of delivering more, then we should be doing that immediately if you're not going to tell Israel to stop. But the fact that the Biden administration had to airdrop food in the first place just really demonstrates how stubborn Netanyahu has been. And stubborn is probably the most charitable thing you can say about Netanyahu because this man is a war criminal and no other government should take him seriously. Israel should be isolated from the rest of the world and sanctions should be placed on him and his cabinet. But Netanyahu hasn't listened to the concerns that the United States has continued to vocalize because the United States hasn't issued any threats to cut off material support for them. They still haven't allowed a single ceasefire veto to pass at the UN Security Council. So I'll say it again uttering the word ceasefire is very different than actually implementing the policy of a ceasefire. But I won't pretend like this is an a drastic shift rhetorically because it is. And it comes at a time when we're reaching a breaking point. The uncommitted vote I think really scared the Biden administration and a lot of Democrats. And that coupled with terrible polls for him and constant disruptions of Biden events to the point where he's now having to basically hold campaign events incognito. It kind of goes to show you that supporting Israel and conditionally is politically untenable for the Biden administration. And they now know they're losing Arab Americans, young people, black voters. And if they want to actually win this election they have to recourse now and try to save this campaign. But the problem is that even though he's feeling the pressure from his base there's still a lot of really stupid people in his ear telling him to ignore his base literally. Take it from Senator Chris Murphy who said just ignore the polls. What we saw in Michigan were over a hundred thousand Democrats went to the polls and voted non-committed. Obviously a protest vote to the president's handling of the situation in Gaza. How concerned as a political matter should Democrats be? I don't think we should be concerned about this as a political matter because this is such a critical issue relative to America's national security and the security of the Middle East. I would hope that the president doesn't make decisions about what to do in Gaza or the Middle East based upon how the votes line up. Listen I think it is time for the president to use all the leverage that he has to get a long-term ceasefire. I think if that ceasefire doesn't come it's in Israel's interest for them to pause military activity to solve the humanitarian crisis. But to the extent the president is using additional leverage on Israel he should do that for national security reasons not for political reasons. These issues are too important to be dictated by the polls. So on one hand he's saying that Biden should use his leverage to stop Israel. Awesome I agree there. But on another hand he's basically saying that it's okay to ignore the base of your party. That is something you don't want to do. Anyone who tells you to ignore the concerns of your base is not someone you want to listen to. And listening to that I mean come on if you ignore your base Biden you do so at your own peril. But he has been ignoring his base at least up until recently. He hears us now. He's trying to placate us now. Will he actually do what we want. That's another question. But I mean this is one example of a person that the president listens to. And as stupid as that advice was Chris Murphy is far from the worst person that Biden is soliciting advice from. In a New Yorker piece about Biden's campaign his chief of staff boasted about how he seeks advice from people like Larry Summers, Thomas Friedman and Mitch McConnell with the logic being that you know he's pressure testing his decisions by getting the input of his critics. But I mean they're not helping you. You need to listen to your base. Don't just try to placate your base actually implement the ceasefire policy okay. You can do so by cutting off weapons. By actually using your leverage. But in conclusion I welcome the Biden administration's shift in tone on Israel. But actions speak louder than words. So prove it. Don't just tell us. Show us.